Cuts to fleet ‘national disgrace’

The Government’s cuts to the Royal Navy’s fleet have gone too far and are a “national disgrace”, a former head of the service has warned.

By The Newsroom

Published 9th Jun 2014, 06:47 BST

Lord West of Spithead, a former first sea lord, said the coalition had not just cut to the bone but “into the bone”, as he insisted the UK had been left with too few ships to escort naval convoys.

The Labour peer also warned the possibility of Scottish independence poses the greatest security and defence threat to the UK.

Asked about the scale of today’s navy, Lord West told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC One: “I believe we’ve cut into the bone... it’s not to the bone, but into the bone.

“A great maritime nation like us, where we still run global shipping from London and we’re totally reliant on that, those sinews that keep the global village together, to have 19 escorts I think is a national disgrace actually.”